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Vulnerability Note VU#654390

ISC DHCP contains C Includes that define vsnprintf() to vsprintf() creating potential buffer overflow conditions

Overview

The Internet Systems Consortium's (ISC) Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) 3 application contains a vulnerability that introduces several potential buffer overflow conditions. Exploitation of this vulnerability can cause a denial-of-service condition to the DHCP Daemon (DHCPD) and may permit a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system with the privileges of the DHCPD process.

I. Description

ISC DHCP makes use of the vsnprintf() for writing various log file strings. For systems that do not support vsnprintf(), a C include file was created that defines the vsnprintf() function to vsprintf() as such:

    #define vsnprintf(buf, size, fmt, list) vsprintf (buf, fmt, list)


vsprintf() is a function that does not check bounds, therefore the size is discarded creating the potential for a buffer overflow when client provided data is supplied. Note that the vsnprintf() statements are defined after the vulnerable code that is discussed in VU#317350. This means that VU#317350 would be triggered prior to these potential buffer overflows, unless a client could specify content to a vsnprintf() statement not associated with logging. It is believed that there aren't any other vsnprintf() statements vulnerable to this type of exploitation. Note that this vulnerability was discovered and exploitable after VU#317350 was resolved.

Only ISC DHCP 3.0.1rc12 and ISC DHCP 3.0.1rc13 are believed to be vulnerable for the following operating systems:
  • AIX
  • AlphaOS
  • Cygwin32
  • HP-UX
  • Irix
  • Linux
  • NextStep
  • SCO
  • SunOS 4
  • SunOS 5.5
  • Ultrix

As with VU#317350, all versions of ISC DCHP 3, including all snapshots, betas, and release candidates, contain the flawed code. However, it is not believed that these versions are exploitable because they discard all but the last hostname option provided by the client.

II. Impact

A remote attacker with the ability to send a crafted packet to the DHCPD listening port (typically port 67/UDP), may be able to crash the ISC DHCP daemon, causing a denial of service. It may be possible to execute arbitrary code on the vulnerable server with the privileges of the DHCPD process (typically root).

III. Solution

ISC has released DHCP 3.0.1rc14 which resolves this issue. For systems that do not support vsnprintf(), DHCP now implements it's own bounded function. DHCP will not compile and link if it does not believe that it is linking to a bounds checking function. Versions prior to ISC DHCP 3 are no longer supported. All users of ISC DHCP are encouraged to update to the latest version.

Systems Affected

VendorStatusDate NotifiedDate Updated
3ComUnknown22-Jun-2004
AlcatelUnknown22-Jun-2004
Apple Computer Inc.Not Vulnerable22-Jun-2004
Aruba NetworksNot Vulnerable23-Jun-2004
AT&TUnknown22-Jun-2004
AvayaUnknown22-Jun-2004
Avici Systems Inc.Unknown22-Jun-2004
Charlotte's Web NetworksUnknown22-Jun-2004
Check PointNot Vulnerable22-Jun-2004
Chiaro NetworksUnknown22-Jun-2004
Cisco Systems Inc.Not Vulnerable24-Jun-2004
ConectivaUnknown22-Jun-2004
Cray Inc.Unknown22-Jun-2004
D-Link SystemsUnknown22-Jun-2004
Data ConnectionUnknown22-Jun-2004
DebianUnknown22-Jun-2004
EMC CorporationUnknown22-Jun-2004
EngardeUnknown22-Jun-2004
Extreme NetworksNot Vulnerable22-Jun-2004
F5 NetworksUnknown22-Jun-2004
Fedora ProjectVulnerable22-Jun-2004
Foundry Networks Inc.Unknown22-Jun-2004
FreeBSDUnknown22-Jun-2004
FujitsuUnknown22-Jun-2004
Hewlett-Packard CompanyUnknown22-Jun-2004
HitachiNot Vulnerable22-Jun-2004
HyperchipUnknown22-Jun-2004
IBMNot Vulnerable23-Jun-2004
IBM-zSeriesUnknown22-Jun-2004
IBM eServerUnknown22-Jun-2004
ImmunixUnknown22-Jun-2004
InfoBloxVulnerable13-Jul-2004
Ingrian NetworksUnknown22-Jun-2004
IntelUnknown22-Jun-2004
Internet Software ConsortiumUnknown22-Jun-2004
Juniper NetworksNot Vulnerable22-Jun-2004
Lucent TechnologiesUnknown22-Jun-2004
LuminousUnknown22-Jun-2004
MandrakeSoftVulnerable23-Jun-2004
Microsoft CorporationNot Vulnerable23-Jun-2004
MontaVista SoftwareUnknown22-Jun-2004
Multi-Tech Systems Inc.Unknown22-Jun-2004
MultinetUnknown22-Jun-2004
NEC CorporationUnknown22-Jun-2004
NetBSDNot Vulnerable22-Jun-2004
NetScreenUnknown22-Jun-2004
NextHopUnknown22-Jun-2004
NokiaUnknown22-Jun-2004
NominumNot Vulnerable24-Jun-2004
Nortel NetworksUnknown22-Jun-2004
NovellUnknown22-Jun-2004
Openwall GNU/*/LinuxUnknown23-Jun-2004
Red Hat Inc.Not Vulnerable22-Jun-2004
Redback Networks Inc.Not Vulnerable22-Jun-2004
Riverstone NetworksUnknown22-Jun-2004
SCOUnknown22-Jun-2004
SequentUnknown22-Jun-2004
SGIUnknown22-Jun-2004
Sony CorporationUnknown22-Jun-2004
Sun Microsystems Inc.Unknown22-Jun-2004
SuSE Inc.Vulnerable23-Jun-2004
TurboLinuxUnknown22-Jun-2004
UnisysUnknown22-Jun-2004
Wind River Systems Inc.Unknown22-Jun-2004
ZyXELUnknown22-Jun-2004

References


Credit

Thanks to Gregory Duchemin and Solar Designer for discovering, reporting and resolving this vulnerability. Thanks also to David Hankins of ISC for notifying us of this vulnerability and the technical information provided to create this document.

This document was created by Jason A Rafail and based on the technical information provided by David Hankins of ISC.

Other Information

Date Public:2004-06-22
Date First Published:2004-06-22
Date Last Updated:2004-07-21
CERT Advisory: 
CVE-ID(s):CAN-2004-0461
NVD-ID(s):CAN-2004-0461
US-CERT Technical Alerts: 
Metric:14.21
Document Revision:17

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